At the request of the Agricultural Cane League the government has extended until the end of November the investigation into alleged dumping against the sugar importer La Maquila Lama.

The as yet unresolved conflict could once again make its presence felt with the import of organic sugar on the part of the Agricultural Cane League and also the importer La Maquila Lama, who filed with the Commission to Promote Competition (COPROCOM) a complaint of alleged monopolistic practices.See: "Sugar War in Costa Rica".

The National Assembly has passed, with 68 votes, the Special Law on Trade Remedies. This regulation was discussed within the Committee on Economy, after it was presented to the Legislative Assembly last October by the Minister of Economy and private sector representatives, who also accompanied the legislators during their studies.

Small hotels can not compete with the low prices used by big international chains in the sector to attract customers.

Entrepreneurs in the tourism sector in destinations in Manuel Antonio, Quepos and Aguirre are demanding urgent action by the government to halt what they call unfair competition, which coupled with the low influx of tourists in the area and the absence of a strategy for tourist attraction, is leading small hotel companies to bankruptcy.

The manual contains information about how to detect unfair trading practices by competitors and the procedures to request an investigation.

"It is important for the productive sector, especially SMEs, to be aware of the procedure for requesting an investigation into unfair trade practices and safeguards in order to protect productive enterprise development through mechanisms that are designed to protect them," said Marvin Rodríguez, the Deputy Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade.

A Guatemalan corrugated steel manufacturer has pointed out that zinc sheetsimported from China are being sold at prices below the cost of sales at origin.

A drop in sales, shutdown of equipment and staff layoffs are the causes of the alleged dumping in the corrugated steel market, concludes a preliminary investigation conducted by the Ministry of Economy (Mineco) in response to a complaint lodged by the manufacturer Ternium.

The Ministry of Economy of El Salvador has refused to impose antidumping duties on imports of wheat flour from Honduras.

A statement from the Ministry of Economy of El Salvador reads:

The Ministry of Finance informed that it has dismissed the complaint filed by the company MOLSA against the Honduran flour company UNIMERC, on alleged dumping of exports of wheat flour to El Salvador. The resolution of rejection was duly notified to the Salvadoran company.

The Honduran dairy industry is requesting the government to file an antidumping petition to milk powder imported by a Mexican corporation.

“A ton is priced at $4.200, but Mexican company Nestlé is bringing it at $2.920. This is dumping, as they are selling it $1.100 dollars below price”, argued Edgardo Leiva, executive director of Fenagh, the Honduran Association of Farmers and Breeders.

In the negotiations for a FTA, Costa Rica renounced to applying safeguard and anti-dumping measures to China.

Juan González, president of the Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica, renewed its criticism on how the Commerce Ministry (Comex) handled the negotiation process with China. According to Nacion.com, he remarked that: "long before sitting on the table, the negotiation was not balanced, and Comex accepted it. Authorities receded under such pressure".